Hello to everyone and anyone who reads this. This is just a story I'm doing for a contest and decided to post. Hope you guys like it and please review if you have the chance.

Chapter One

It was late. That much was obvious by the empty halls and the closed doors. Everyone was in class by now, everyone but Mira. Her short black hair swayed softly as she hurried to her first class of the day. Her brow was furrowed beneath her bangs and panic shone in her bright blue eyes. This was not a good way to start the day, much less the school year.

The girl groaned as she climbed the stairs. A sigh of relief escaped her as she neared her classroom, but she couldn't help but wonder if she would get some sort of punishment. Detention was not unusual for people who arrived late to class. With a sigh of both despair and resignation she walked into the classroom only to have all eyes set on her.

The teacher, a balding man with thin wire glasses and wearing a thick wool sweater, turned his attention to her as she entered the room. She glanced around quickly and saw her friends looking at her with much amusement as she excused herself and gave her name for attendance purposes. Luckily, the man decided to let it slide and sent her to her seat without much fuss.

Mira sighed as she set her bag down and turned to look at the twins sitting to her right. They had short brown hair and soft brown eyes that sparkled with mischief and, at the moment, amusement. The only visible difference was that one of them wore a blue ribbon, matching the blue socks and tie of the uniform.

"You're late." Kira, the one without the ribbon, said with amusement.

"It's not my fault. Yasuo-nii forgot he was supposed to drop me off today." Mira whispered back to avoid any unwanted attention from the teacher.

The two girls looked at each other and stifled a laugh. They both knew how lazy their friend's cousin could be.

Indeed, Mira lived with her older cousin, Yasuo in the busy city of Tokyo, Japan. He had taken care of her ever since her parents passed away and even though he was a good guardian he tended to forget things. Things like setting his alarm clock or going grocery shopping. Luckily, his friend, and possible girlfriend, Shina wasn't so distracted and was always there to remind him of his duties.

"You're just lucky this guy is just subbing for the actual teacher." Rika, the twin with the ribbon said.

Mira blinked and glanced at the teacher. She had to admit that she was definitely relieved to hear that. While the guy had been nice enough to not give her detention or clean-up duty, she was sure he was dull. Already some of her classmates were nodding off.

"Do you guys know who the actual teacher is?" She asked the twins.

They shook their heads in unison.

"I heard it's a new teacher that just got transferred here." Kira added.

Mira frowned. She hated not knowing her teachers, it made it hard to know what to expect. She had to deal with it in her first year of High School, but she never thought she would have to deal with it in her senior year.

The day went by quickly and she was pleased to see she knew all of her teachers. Her favorite so far had to be Isaac-sensei who generally insisted in being addressed by his first name. He was a favorite among most of the students and well liked by the other teachers. Isaac was one of the youngest teachers, having only started his career the previous year, but he was already one of the most popular staff members. He was tall with kind gray eyes and black hair that somehow managed to look both neat and messy. His energetic way of teaching and constant joking around made for a more than tolerable history lesson.

Of course, there had to be someone she disliked and after years of having the luck of escaping Beaumont-sensei it was finally her turn to suffer through her class. She was one of the few foreign teachers in the school and had transferred from France three years earlier. A strict and rigid woman by nature, she directly contradicted her gentle appearance. Math class, already Mira's most hated subject, became unbearable.

The first day of school proved to be exhausting. This, of course, led to Mira once again waking up late for school. Fortunately, the balding substitute for her first class of the day seemed not to care about punctuality. Seeing this of course, Mira decided to take advantage of the situation for as long as she could and made a habit of getting to school late.

Throughout the week Mira was able to learn more about her actual teacher. The rumors said that he was transferring from Germany, which would make him yet another addition to their list of foreign teachers thanks to the exchange program in place which allowed for cultural learning to both the teachers and students. At least that was the case until she heard the name of the man, Saito, Kane. Apparently, he was an alumnus of the school and had only left to study abroad. Apart from that not much was known about him, but that was fine with her.

And so two weeks passed without much change and school became the lifeless routine it had always been.

With a lazy yawn, Mira walked to her first class of the morning on what would be the third Monday of the school year. She greeted a few passing teachers and made her way up the stairs and towards what was now officially the most boring class of the day. Even Beaumont-sensei entertained her more with her constant threats and glares.

However, this morning proved to be different as she was welcomed by a surprising sight when she opened the door. A man she had never seen before stood at the front of the class. He was tall and young with light brown hair and bright green eyes behind a pair of reading glasses. He glanced at her and watched her blink in surprise.

"Miyake, Mira I presume." He said in a calm voice.

She nodded.

"Well, Miyake-san, you have the honor of receiving the first afterschool detention of my career. Now please take a seat."

Mira felt her eye twitch with irritation as the man turned back to the board where he was busy writing that day's lesson.

With one last glare, she headed to her seat and turned to her friends.

"Please tell me I don't have to put up with him for the rest of the school year." Mira whispered in a pleading tone.

The twins looked at her with sympathy.

"Sorry Mira-chan, but he's the new teacher."

Mira groaned and slumped in her seat.

"Is there a problem Miyake-san?" She heard the man ask.

'Yeah, you.' She thought darkly, but decided not to push her luck.

She shook her head and looked away and out the window at her side. In response, the teacher only turned away from her and focused on the rest of the class.

"Alright then, I am Saito, Kane so please address me by whichever name you like as long as it is in a respectful manner. I'm sure you all know by now that I just transferred here to start teaching, but don't expect me to go easy on you. I expect you all to act your age and actually get some work done. I won't tolerate anyone who fools around and I do expect you to be punctual."

As he said the last part he focused his attention on Mira who just ignored him. A few stifled laughs could be heard throughout the room.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's get to work."

And so they did, and Mira had to admit that it was hard to be bored when the green eyed devil, as she liked to refer to Kane, kept dumping an insurmountable amount of work upon them. By the time the bell rang, a collective sigh could be heard from the class as they quickly packed their things and almost ran out of the room. Mira was not an exception.

She had the sudden urge to punch the man until that smug smirk of his was off his face.

The day dragged on for what seemed like weeks and at the end of it was a not so welcoming thought. Just knowing she would be stuck with Saito-sensei for an hour or so made Mira sick. Unfortunately, it had to be done and so she called her cousin and after explaining that she would be late, headed to receive her punishment.

When she entered the room, she found Saito sitting at his desk and looking through the day's work. He looked up as she entered and suppressed a smirk at her displeased look.

"Right on time, Miyake-san." He said and this time he couldn't hold back the small smirk.

Mira glared at him as she took the seat furthest away from him and looked out the window. The only sounds in the room were of shuffling papers and a pen scribbling furiously as Kane somehow managed to finish a pile of paperwork.

There were only ten minutes left until Mira could leave and she let out a sigh of relief. Just as she looked away from the clock on the wall the door opened. Both Mira and Kane looked up to see Isaac-sensei walk in. He had his usual smile in place and a look of amusement shone in his gray eyes. The other teacher in the room, however, didn't look too happy.

"What are you doing here Isaac?" He asked with what Mira could only guess was irritation.

"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" Isaac responded in mock hurt.

"I'm busy." With that, Kane turned back to his work.

Isaac blinked and finally became aware of the other person in the room. He smiled as he looked at the girl.

"Hello there, Mira-chan." He said in his usual friendly way.

Mira smiled at the man.

"Hello, Isaac-sensei."

"Now, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home?" He asked the girl.

"She has detention for being late, so I would appreciate it if you didn't talk to her." Kane said, not even bothering to look up from his work.

Isaac frowned and looked at the girl and then back at his so-called friend.

Mira could actually see the other man's eye twitch, even from the other side of the room. He removed his glasses and set them down on his desk before slowly turning to look at Isaac.

"First of all, I would advice you to not speak so casually to your students or to me for that matter. I don't know about you, but I would like to keep the respect from my students. And no, I don't think I'm being too hard. She was late and so she was punished."

Isaac looked at him with some amusement.

"You really are a stiff. At this rate, all of your students will hate you by the end of the week."

"Not like I care."

Isaac just shook his head and looked at the clock overhead.

"Well, why don't you just let Mira-chan go, I mean, it's pretty late and you shouldn't make a pretty girl walk around on her own."

Mira blushed a bit at hearing how Isaac referred to her, but ignored it as she watched for Kane's reaction. He sighed and looked at the clock before looking back at Mira who was watching him expectantly.

"Fine, but I expect you to be on time from now on." He said seriously.

Mira nodded and hurried out the class.

"Thank you." She muttered as she passed Isaac-sensei.

He just winked at her, earning a glare from Kane.

"If you're done pestering me for the day I would appreciate it if you would leave." Kane said.

Isaac smirked and leaned over the desk, resting his hand on the top and fixing his gaze on Kane. Green eyes sparkled with irritation as Kane glared at his colleague.

"Jenell was asking about you."

Kane stared at Isaac for a few more seconds before standing up and beginning to gather his things.

"Beaumont-sensei knows where I am if she wants to speak to me." He said.

Isaac's eyebrow rose and he chuckled a bit.

"You know it's not that easy, especially when you lock yourself in here all day. It's almost as if you're avoiding her."

"I'm not."

"Of course not, but still, it would be nice if you would at least join us for lunch."

"I'm busy."

Kane slipped on his jacket and picked up his bag. He turned to look at Isaac.

"Now, if you don't mind I would like to leave."

Isaac just shook his head and left.

"Just don't torment your students so much." He said with his hand on the doorknob.

"I only do what is necessary." Kane responded.

"You sound like an old man."

After saying that Isaac left, fearing any violent behavior from the other man as a response to his taunts. Kane just sighed in exasperation and shook his head as he locked up for the day. Apparently, this would be a very long school year.

End Chapter One

Hope you guys liked this story and please review if you have the chance. Until next time.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.